Carlos Alcaraz Triumph Over Jannik Sinner in Beijing Final, Continues Dominance Over Top 5 Players

He has already defeated all five of the top players this year, losing only to Novak Djokovic in the gold medal match at the Olympics.

And he had other reasons to be happy about his victory in the end.

First of all, it was his second career victory over a No. 1; his first came in the 2022 Madrid quarterfinals against Novak Djokovic.

Second, with victories at Indian Wells and Roland Garros, he’s actually 3-0 versus Sinner this year, making him the first player to defeat him three times in this competition. This year, no other player has even defeated him twice.

Most astonishingly, though, Alcaraz is currently 8-1 versus the top 5 players this season; his lone defeat at the hands of a top player came against Djokovic in the Olympic gold medal match.

ALCARAZ VS TOP 5 PLAYERS IN 2024 (8-1):
1. No. 3 Sinner in Indian Wells SFs, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. No. 4 Medvedev in Indian Wells F, 7-6 (5), 6-1
3. No. 2 Sinner in Roland Garros SFs, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
4. No. 4 Zverev in Roland Garros F, 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
5. No. 5 Medvedev in Wimbledon SFs, 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
6. No. 2 Djokovic in Wimbledon F, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4)
7. to No. 2 Djokovic in Olympics F, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2)
8. No. 5 Medvedev in Beijing SFs, 7-5, 6-3
9. No. 1 Sinner in Beijing F, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3)

The final on Wednesday was a grind that might have gone either way; in fact, the first and third sets were very evenly matched.

In the first set, Alcaraz had a 5-2 lead at one point. After Sinner gained the break and closed the gap, the Spaniard even had three set points—one at 5-6, one at 30-40, and two more at 6-4 in the tie-break that followed—but the Italian closed out the 70-minute match.

And after exchanging breaks once more in the third set (Alcaraz led 4-2, but Sinner recovered to serve), the two faced a tie-break once more, with Sinner leading by a double mini-break at 3-0.

After spending three hours and twenty minutes on the court, Alcaraz put an end to the match by winning the next seven points in a row and launching a last-second inside-out forehand on match point.

Both players played a very good game; Alcaraz ended with 55 winners to 52 unforced errors, while Sinner finished with 30 to 31.

According to the updated ATP rankings, the Italian will still be ranked first, while the Spaniard, who was previously ranked first, will move up from No. 3 to No. 2, overtaking Alexander Zverev, who is currently ranked second.